Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama used an investor meeting in Bangkok to frame the November Monetary Policy Committee decision as an external risk call. Speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, he said the risks confronting Ghana’s economy were largely external: movements in the US dollar and gold prices, tighter global financing conditions, and the anticipated effects of El Niño. The committee held the policy rate at 14 percent unanimously in September, citing external risks and concerns about rising inflation, and Asiama said staff had been asked to assess the fallout from the US midterm elections in November as well.
The domestic funding picture he is defending has improved dramatically. Citing S and P Global figures, MyJoyOnline reported that Ghana’s six month Treasury bill yielded about 6.5 percent and its one year bill 10.1 percent at the end of August 2026, down from almost 30 percent at the end of 2024, after the finance ministry’s three year ban on new medium and long term domestic bonds, imposed after the December 2022 debt restructuring, gave way in 2026 to renewed longer tenor issuance. S and P warned that the Middle East conflict is likely to erode some of those gains through inflation, financing costs and pressure on the cedi. This week’s bill issuance target is 5.02 billion cedis against 3.91 billion cedis of maturing bills, after 1.53 billion cedis was raised above target last week.
Asiama also addressed the central bank’s own balance sheet. He attributed the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 loss to the cost of open market operations that helped bring inflation down, described it as a one off, projected an improved position in 2027, and disclosed that the government has agreed to recapitalise the bank by issuing bonds, with an agreement possibly signed next month. He said the banking industry remained sound, with asset quality improving under recent liquidity directives and steps to reduce the non-performing loan ratio by year end.
The message for holders of Ghanaian paper is twofold. The disinflation and bill yield compression of the past two years are real, and the central bank’s recapitalisation, if signed, removes a known overhang. But the governor is telling investors, in advance, that the November decision will be taken on Hormuz, the dollar and gold, which is another way of saying the local easing cycle is hostage to the same energy shock driving decisions from Manila to Sydney this month.